


quicksilver and steel

by babybel



Series: stuff inspired by my first listen-through of gallifrey [3]
Category: Doctor Who, Gallifrey (Big Finish Audio)
Genre: Audio: 06.02 Renaissance, F/F, featuring:, leela and her undying love for romana, pretty much totally canon compliant, romana's intense guilt and self-loathing, the inherent homoeroticism of any leela and trey interaction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:27:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24260569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babybel/pseuds/babybel
Summary: “You said to me a long time ago, longer for you, that no matter if your face changed, if you- regenerated-” Leela said the word slowly and carefully, intent on getting this out right, “that you would always want me by your side. Do you-”“Remember? Of course I remember!” Trey’s face lit up as she said it. “Oh, you remember too.”-meeting a future romana makes leela think about how far she'd go for her present romana
Relationships: Leela/Romana II, Leela/Trey Romana
Series: stuff inspired by my first listen-through of gallifrey [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1644265
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	quicksilver and steel

**Author's Note:**

> bruh season 6 of gallifrey really hit that hard didn't it

“She- I- she gets so tired,” Trey was saying, as she and Leela walked through the Capitol. “I just wish I could make her rest, or check her calculations again, but-”

“She will not listen?” Leela supplied. She still wasn’t sure how she felt about Trey - this new Time Lord was a far cry from the Romana she knew and cared for - but she was anxious to hear any news about how her Romana was getting on with her work. 

Trey gave a subdued, ladylike chuckle. “You know me almost as well as I do.” 

“Yes, I do,” Leela said, squaring her shoulders, standing a bit taller. 

“Then you know she won’t listen to me,” Trey continued. “She’s headstrong, she’s stubborn, and just proud enough not to take any advice coming from someone as close to her own mind as I am. I do wish there was someone who could convince her to slow down, just a bit. For the sake of our future.” 

Leela considered. She did feel it her duty to act as Romana’s keeper, more often than not. It was a position of honor, if only to her. Trey surely didn’t intend for her to be the one to go to Romana, but if there was anything she could do to free her friend from some of that tiredness, lift the worry from her brow, spare her the weight on her conscience should she speed through her work and get something wrong, it had to be done. “I am not sure she would listen to me, but I could-”

“Oh, would you?” Trey said it with such enthusiasm it reminded Leela again of how much younger she looked than Romana. She stopped walking, turning to clasp Leela’s hands. “I’d appreciate that very much.”

Leela looked down at their hands. She wasn’t sure she wanted Trey touching her, not yet. Usually, she could get a good sense of a person, but Trey was still an enigma. “Of course,” she answered, absentmindedly. 

“Leela, you always did do such a good job of looking after me.” Trey said it with a little sigh. 

“In your future,” Leela said it carefully, “Narvin and I, we are not still with you?” She was curious, as Trey had reacted so exuberantly when they first met, and she figured there was no better time to bring it up than now, while they were a spell away from all the tension of the Panopticon. 

“Well.” Trey looked down, her delicate features growing sad. “You don’t quite have the lifespan of a Time Lord, and Narvin can’t regenerate. I spent a lot of time on my own.” 

Leela was torn between waiting it out, keeping her doubt in Trey, trusting her own instincts, and attempting to comfort her, because she had said she was Romana - a version of Romana, at least - and for part of Leela, that was enough. “I am sorry,” she settled on. “I hope we served you well.” 

“No one better than you, Leela.” Trey looked back up at her. 

Those eyes could be Romana’s eyes, Leela reasoned. Romana would fret like this. She liked to think Romana would miss her the way Trey did. She knew she probably shouldn’t just go along with whatever Trey said, at least not without talking it over with Narvin and her Romana first, but Trey was so sincere, and so lonely, and she’d never want Romana to hurt like this. “You said to me a long time ago, longer for you, that no matter if your face changed, if you- regenerated-” Leela said the word slowly and carefully, intent on getting this out right, “that you would always want me by your side. Do you-”

“Remember? Of course I remember!” Trey’s face lit up as she said it. “Oh, you remember too.”

“No, I did not mean to ask that,” Leela corrected. “I meant to say, do you still believe that? Do you still wish me with you?”

“Oh, Leela,” Trey said softly, and took Leela’s face in her hands. 

Leela felt the urge to look away, perhaps even to run away, but she was a warrior and she did not run, even when her face felt so hot she was sure it could catch fire. Perhaps it was just her wishing that her own Romana would treat her this way, but in that moment she was ready to follow Trey anywhere. 

“You know I do, don’t you?” Trey’s voice was so gentle. 

“I… yes,” Leela answered. She wondered if this closeness was something she would get with Romana in the future, if she had this to look forward to. 

“You should try to get your Romana to take a break,” Trey urged, giving Leela’s cheeks a little stroke with the pads of her thumbs before letting go. 

“Yes, I- yes, I should,” Leela agreed, and found herself actually, genuinely flustered. Some warrior she was. Caught off her guard like that. Then, so Trey knew there was no tension or bad blood between them, she added, “You are my Romana too.” 

Trey smiled her clean little smile, and said, “It makes me so happy to hear that.” 

Leela clasped a hand to Trey’s shoulder for a moment, and then started back towards the Panopticon. 

* * *

“This is my fault,” Leela argued, voice raw, as she stood on the threshold of the old timeship Romana had been given to begin her exile. 

Inside, Romana stood a meter or so from the open door, and looked so, so tired. “Leela, that’s ridiculous, how could it be-”

“Trey, she played us all like pieces on a game board, she-” Leela had to stop for a moment, overcome with anger. “I let her play me, and she did all this to toss you out like old bones. It is my fault.”

“No, I should have had the sense to check my own calculations,” Romana said wearily, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Leela, it’s really not benefitting either of us to stay and argue what we both already know.” 

“But you do not know it,” Leela insisted. “She tricked me into thinking I should help her, that I could trust her, and she- she- built this all against you. It was-”

“The ambassador,” Romana yelled in that methodical way of hers, voice overtaking Leela’s, “is dead. So is his son, so is everyone on that ship. And I’m the only one to blame for that.”

Leela blinked, trying to find in her some peace, a bit of gravity, a way to settle herself enough to convince Romana how wrong she was. She tried to gather her thoughts, but before she could say anything, Romana started laughing, softly, bitterly. 

“Isn’t it fitting?” Romana asked, still chucking under her breath. “The destroyer of worlds, banished from her own.” She hung her head, and kept laughing. 

Leela, jaw clenched, stepped aboard the ship and went to Romana. She took her by the shoulders and just held onto her, in hopes that it would help somehow. 

After a moment, Romana looked up, a spiteful little smile still on her lips. “What did I say? To trick you?”

“No,” Leela said firmly. “You would never do something like-”

“Well, I would, and I do,” Romana cut in, her tone embittered. “Thought you might tell me ahead of time, so I’ll know my lines.” 

“It is not like that,” Leela insisted. “The future can change, we have seen it, you do not have to-” 

“No, I do. I do.” Romana took a deep breath, and sighed. “Some things can’t be changed, that’s just how it goes. I think I’ve done enough fighting with time; look where it’s gotten me.” 

Leela knew she had to be honest, and hoped that it was enough to put some hope back into Romana. “She tricked me by being kind and loving, and I wanted to follow her like I follow you.” She swallowed, summoning the peace of mind to continue. “She is from so far in the future, and she missed Narvin and I, I could tell. She is still you, in some ways.” 

Romana gave a little scoff. “It does follow, doesn’t it. I’m the one tripping myself up, sending myself away, alone, for-”

“You will not be alone, I am coming with you,” Leela asserted. “And- although Trey did set this all up, I do not think you should hurt yourself over it.” 

Romana looked at her, quiet, for a moment. Her brow was still knit together with worry, or confusion, or self-loathing, or a mix. Then, she said, “You always were better at forgiving me than I am.” 

“Good, someone must be.” Leela stepped to the console of the time ship, remembering when she used to travel with the Doctor. She realized, as she looked down at the controls, that she was looking more forward to travelling with Romana. “Where are we going?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Romana sighed. Then, a slight smile pulled at the corners of her lips. “Thank you for whatever you told Trey. I’m sure when I’m her, I’ll appreciate it. A lot.” 

Leela nodded. “You know I will always assure you like that, if-”

“I know,” Romana said quietly, warmly. Her posture shifted, like her whole body had exhaled. She looked so tired. “I’m almost surprised you don’t want to stay with her. I think Narvin does.”

Leela gave a shrug. “Narvin wants stability above anything else, we both know this.” She wasn’t quite sure about that, though, now. In the past few months, he had often elected to stay with her or Romana over a safer alternative. She didn’t like considering the implications of that, it made her chest ache, so she pushed on. “If you had stayed, it would be you who he served. But I have no home on Gallifrey without you, my home is-” She stopped, eyes down on the ship’s console.

“I know,” Romana repeated, and she sounded sad. 

“And Trey is too quick for me,” Leela continued, not wanting to dwell on any of it. “She tricked me, and I did not even know I had been tricked. You are solid, steady. I know that I can trust you.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t advise that.” Romana gave a miserable chuckle, but she was smiling now, at least. She joined Leela by the console. 

“Good, then, that it is up to me and not to you.” It was interesting; in her youth, Leela was loath to be slowed down by anything or anyone, to the point where if something was time consuming she’d often do all she could to get rid of it. Now, she was so committed to finding ways to assuage Romana’s guilt, make her happy, just make her smile, that she was more than pleased to spend as much time as it took to do so. It must have to do with experience, and getting older, she figured, because the last time she was in a time ship like this one, she wouldn’t have batted an eye at the thought. 

“Paris,” Romana said with conviction.

“What?” Drawn out of her thoughts, Leela frowned. 

“That’s where we’ll go. Paris,” Romana explained. “I went there once, it was lovely. You’d enjoy it, I’m sure. They’ve got sunsets, food, music… Just what we need, I think. We should start our exile with a bang.” And she gave a little laugh, admiring the irony. 

“Paris.” Leela liked the way it felt in her mouth. She gave Romana a nod, even though they both knew that Romana could say anywhere in the universe and Leela would follow her. “That sounds good.”

**Author's Note:**

> i still can't fucking believe they were gonna go to paris together.. harold....
> 
> find me on tumblr @lesbiandonnanoble !


End file.
